It's not just a hat
by FairiesInOurHearts
Summary: She's pissed, she's tired, and she just wants to go home.


**A/N: I wrote this AU about a month ago. It's pretty much based on my own experience (without the Prince Charming and of course, a lot of things were added and changed), and _yes, _I was quite pissed when I couldn't find my hat and I was pissed off at the girl who said it wasn't important (though I realize now that's stupid - thankfully, I didn't scream at her or something). And the alcohol evaporation did make me dizzy. Don't ask. Juvia's thoughts and reactions are pretty much my thoughts and reactions.**

**My friend _indeed _tickled me in the middle of the crowd to get me laugh.**

**I wore something similar to what I had described in this story. I _did _wrap my scarf around my ears - and I looked ridiculous.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FT.**

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><p>She did <em>not <em>sign up for this.

She should have known something like this was bound to happen, though, considering she's not really the partying type. But no matter how much she protested, Juvia Lockser was dragged to the party by her friends, and now she's here, in a crowded place, inhaling all sorts of things she doesn't want to think about and "enjoying" the 'oh my God get a room' view. Let's not forget that this is _not _the kind of music she listens to and she does _not _like to dance in a crowd full of strangers and oh, she's going to kill her friends tomorrow.

Sighing for the probably millionth time that night, Juvia resumed her place in the corner and started sipping her juice (she kind of feels like a baby because, apparently, everyone else is drinking alcohol). Eyeing the people around her, she recognized some of them as her high school classmates, and some she knows from college. The party is held by her kind of-friend (it's her birthday), and she invited all these people that Juvia doesn't know, which is making her feel _quite_ uncomfortable. And that traitor of a best friend, Gajeel, decided not to show up. _"Don't drag me into those troublesome things, Rain Woman. I ain't a crowd type o' guy"._ Stupid, stupid, stupid Gajeel-kun! He could have at least come for Juvia! Or if not for her, then for Levy-san! Juvia knows he's had the hots for the "Shrimp" for a while, so this might've been a perfect chance for him! Only if he came!

"Juviaaaa, why aren't you dancin'?" Cana, one of the friends who dragged her here, asked while slightly slurring, indicating that she's _already _drunk.

"Mhm, Juvia will, later", she answered.

"Come on, we brought you to a party, not a funeral! Liven up a bit!" yelled Lucy, the other friend who forcibly brought her here.

"No, Juvia is fine, really! Cana-san and Lucy-san should go, Juvia saw you getting really friendly with some guys", Juvia winked, and Lucy started blushing and mumbling words like "what're you saying?", "what guy?", but Cana just laughed and put her hands on Lucy's shoulder saying "Let's go, Blondie, that pink guy's waitin' for ya! Oh, and, ya better join us later, Juvia! Y'hear?!" she added through the noise, and Juvia barely heard her. She amusedly shook her head. If it were up to her, she would've already left (though they arrived here not even an hour ago). But for her friends, she'll stay a bit longer.

Juvia has always been the unsociable one, so finally finding friends, and so many of them, really meant a lot to her. There's Cana, the crazy one of the group, always pulling the rest of them along with her wherever she went. There's also Lucy and Levy, shy girls and bookworms at first, but an eccentric pair of "misfits" who always found a way to make everyone smile later on. Lisanna is the caring one of the group who always bails others (read: Cana) out of trouble, while trying to sound strict, but would always end up laughing with everyone else and saying "This would make a great story, right, Lucy?", which would prompt the latter to _actually _write something that they would later read and, more often that not, it would end with them rolling on the floor writhing in pain because their stomachs would hurt too much. She also met Lisanna's older sister, Mira, and her best friend, Erza, two incredibly kind, but very intimidating women. As for the male friends, she still has only Gajeel, but Juvia is hoping that soon she will find a way to communicate with the opposite gender, too. She likes having a big circle of friends, and further increasing that circle sounds great to her.

"_Not in this kind of place, though…"_ Juvia thought, holding her hands above her eyes because that stupid disco-light or whatever it's called was on again, and she's sure she has damaged both her eyes _and _her ears (the music was loud and standing next to the speakers _certainly _didn't help the situation). _"Well", _she thought_, "at least Juvia won't get frostbites"._ It was the middle of the winter, bellow zero degrees outside and some girls came in sorry excuses for skirts and shorts, or in really revealing dresses, which made Juvia think _"How are they not blue already?!"_ It's true that Cana and Lucy came a bit more revealed than usual, but they're not as bad as the others.

Cana's wearing these tight black jeans and an opened red checkered shirt bonded around her waist, revealing a black tank top. Lucy chose a pink fluttery dress that goes above her knees a bit, white ballet shoes and a short white jacket. Levy and Lisanna settled for the casual jeans and T-shirts, Levy wearing a cute orange colored one (with a text saying _Cute things come in small sizes_), and Lisanna's was a lovely one-sleeved beige T-shirt. Juvia, though, was something else in _another _way. Dark pants and blue knee-high boots, along with a black turtle-neck blouse and a blue sweater above it _did_ make her distinguishable. She had come with a scarf and a hat, too, and she _really _regretted her decision to leave her gloves behind. And everything be damned if her choice of clothes doesn't make her feel even more out of place.

Some minutes later Cana showed up looking a bit annoyed because Juvia didn't join them "as promised", so she and Lisanna lead her to Levy and made her dance.

"Juvia doesn't see Lucy-san. Is she still with the pink haired guy Cana-san was talking about?" she asked, unable to help the sly smile forming on her lips.

"That's actually Natsu, my childhood friend. And yes, they seem to have become _great_ friends" Lisanna winked, and the girls started laughing. "Ah, one of my best friends and my childhood friend. So great!" she exclaimed excitingly (she is _definitely _Mira's younger sister) before suddenly getting interrupted by Cana.

"No, no, no, Juvia! Not like that! You aren't moving your hips enough!" she said while grabbing the girl's waist.

"Eh?"

"Levy, you take hold of her hips!"

"Roger that!" Levy grinned and put her hands on the said body part.

"And Juvia", Lisanna said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "you need to stop frowning!"

With that, she started tickling her and Juvia let out a laugh while Cana and Levy guided her dancing. Several people turned around and Juvia resisted the urge to break in laughter long enough to see some boys _enjoying the view._ She blushed hard and turned around, having decided to ignore a special raven haired guy and his handsome smirk.

They had danced for a while, and Lucy joined them later on (after being properly teased by everyone), but after about an hour and a half, Cana got lost somewhere, Lucy returned to her pink haired lover (_He's not my lover!)_ and Lisanna disappeared somewhere in the crowd, leaving exhausted Juvia and Levy behind. Juvia had been there for three hours already, and she was getting sleepy, plus the fact that she felt like she was getting drunk on the evaporation (she's a _huge _lightweight) was not helping, so she told Levy her intention to go home and asked her to walk her a bit. Levy agreed, and they headed off to the place where all jackets and other things were. Which is where another problem lied, because _what's up with this mountain of coats_? Juvia and the girls had been one of the first ones to arrive, meaning her coat was probably buried somewhere beneath tones of clothing articles.

"Um, Levy-san? Would you mind helping Juvia find her things?"

"Not at all, Ju-chan! Let's see, we put our stuff around here…"

They started digging, and to the people around them they probably looked crazy, going through things like that. But that was the least of Juvia's worries, considering she needed to find her purse, coat scarf and hat. Luckily, she had been smart enough to take her phone with her, but she had never expected to have her other stuff under a mountain of God-knows-what!

"Not here… Probably more to the right…" Juvia mumbled, and she was about to move when she noticed someone she didn't know leaning on the pile.

"Levy-san…" she whispered, and Levy came closer. "Juvia thinks her coat is somewhere to the right, but she can't get there because there's a person she doesn't know there!" she said in a hushed panic.

Levy smiled. Her friend was way too timid for her own good. She lifted her head and recognized the said person as her friend, so she just asked him: "Gray, could you move? We need to get closer to our jackets"

"Oh? Leaving already?" he asked, and Juvia's heart did a somersault because of his voice, but when she looked into his face, her heart did a triple somersault because _oh God it's the guy from before!_

"No, not we, Juvia here. Her head kind of hurts…"

"Drank too much?" he chuckled and Juvia became red out of embarrassment. _"Is that what he thought when he saw Juvia?"_

"No, silly, Ju-chan doesn't drink!" Levy answered, bumping Gray's shoulder lightly. "She just doesn't like places like these. You know, loud music, obnoxious lights, cigarette smokes…"

"Hmm, that so?" Gray asked and Juvia nodded, head bowed down.

"So, move, won't you?" Levy repeated and Gray moved without a word. "There, Ju-chan. Now let's start looking again!"

They did so, and soon enough, Juvia found her purse. They kept searching.

"Oh, there's Juvia's coat! And her scarf!" Juvia chirped, exited that she will soon leave the place. But the excitement soon disappeared, because her hat was nowhere to be found.

"Do you need help?" Gray said as he turned on the lights on his phone, which was, indeed, very helpful because the corner they were in was very dark and they could barely see. In other situation, Juvia would have started blushing and stuttering – a handsome guy just offered her his help – but she was too tired and annoyed to do that, so she just told him "Yes, thank you" and continued her search.

"Can't find your purse either?" some girl asked while joining Juvia in what could now be called _treasure seeking_. "No, a hat." she replied without bothering to look up.

"Pff, it's just a hat, relax!"

Juvia suddenly felt the urge to punch that girl because it _wasn't _just a hat! She had just recently bought it and she had grown _very_ attached to it, and it wasn't that cheap, either. But she soon lost her will to look for it, being so damn tired, and she just wanted to go home and get some sleep.

"Gray can turn of the flashlight now, thanks. Sorry…" Juvia offered Gray a smile and he replied "You're welcome" before returning her the coat and scarf which he had been holding on to for her.

"Levy-san, can you please look for it when you decide to go home? Juvia is too tired… Ask Cana-san and the others, too."

"Of course, Ju-chan. Don't worry." Levy gave Juvia a small smile and a pat on the back, walking her out of the club before returning there.

Walking alone along an almost empty street, Juvia started complaining.

"Great. Just great. Juvia knew something like this was going to happen! Why did she even come?!" she was mumbling as she started shivering. "And it's cold!" she said, before deciding to put her scarf around her ears, which were _freezing_ so she didn't care what those who would see her would think.

After she returned to her apartment, she went straight to the bathroom to freshen and clean herself up (good thing she didn't put on much makeup), then plopped down on her bed and, being exhausted, feel asleep right away.

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><p>It was Monday morning and Juvia was in a bad mood. Yesterday, her friends told her that they couldn't find her hat at all, though they diligently searched for it, and she was still pouting about it (not at her friends, but at herself, and that "just a hat" girl because, yes, Juvia blames her as well, and you don't question Juvia's logic). As she sighed and slumped her shoulders again, she felt a light weight on her head and looked up to see Gray smirking at her, putting something on her head.<p>

"Looking for this?" he asked, and when Juvia realized what it was, her eyes went wide and her lips spread into a huge smile.

"Juvia's hat! Gray found it? Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and launched herself at Gray who was caught totally off guard.

"Oi, it's okay, it wasn't anything special, really…" he said sounding a bit uncomfortable and that made Juvia realize right away what she had done.

"Juvia apologizes! She is so sorry!" she told him completely flustered, and that made Gray chuckle.

"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry. Well then, see you around!" he waved at her and proceeded to walk down the hall, and only then did Juvia remember they were inside the college building and it's very likely that he's attending the same college she is.

"Gray-sama…" she whispered, as if testing the sound of it, and headed towards her study hall with pink cheeks and a big grin on her face.

Maybe going to that party wasn't _such _a bad idea after all.

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><p><strong>AN: Gruvia is almost canon! Yay! The happiness would have hit me harder if not for the other things in that chapter, but I was definitely overjoyed to see one of my favorite couples on a safe way to canonland! Let us pray for their safe arrival.**

**By the way, if anyone is wondering what happened to my hat, the girl who organized the party returned it to me (and I shall be forever grateful).**


End file.
